Roller bracket assembly for a drawer



y 21, 1953 c. J. DARGENE 3,

ROLLER BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR A DRAWER Filed Nov. 14, 1966 @TTonroqy United States Patent 3,384,431 ROLLER BRACKET ASSEMBLY FOR A DRAWER Carl J. Dargene, Rockford, 11L, assignor to Amerock Corporation, Rockford, 11k, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Nov. 14, 1966, S81. No. saasas 6 (Jlairns. (E3. 312-343) AlivfiTRACT OF THE DISQLOSURE For supporting a guide roller on a drawer, a bracket is fastened by staples to the rear frame member of the drawer and is formed with a J-shaped hook which iswrapped around the lower edge of the frame member to prevent loosening of the staples by absorbing shock loads imposed on the staples as a result of the roller engaging a fixed stop. A portion of the hook fits into a downwardly opening notch formed in the lower edge of the frame member and automatically locates the bracket at the center of the drawer to facilitate quick and easy installation of the bracket.

Background of the invention This invention relates to a roller bracket assembly for a drawer and, more particularly, to an assembly having a mounting plate secured by fasteners to the rear frame member of the drawer and formed integrally with a rearwardly projecting leg journaling a roller which guides or supports the drawer and engages a stop to prevent the drawer from accidentally being pulled out too far from a cabinet.

Summary of the invention The present invention primarily aims to provide a new and improved bracket assembly of the foregoing character which not only is quicker and easier to install but also is more rugged and trouble-free in service use than prior constructions of a similar nature. More specifically, this is achieved by hooking the mounting plate around the rear frame member to absorb shock loads imposed on the fasteners as a result of the roller striking the stop and thereby prevent loosening of the fasteners. With the shock loads on the fasteners reduced, the bracket assembly can be installed quickly and easily with fasteners such as staples without danger of the staples pulling loose during service use of the drawer.

The invention also resides in the use of the hook to locate the bracket assembly properly relative to the drawer and thereby facilitate faster installation.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a drawer having a roller bracket assembly embodying the novel features of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing the drawer in a moved position.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-section taken substantially along the line 33 of FIG. 2 with parts broken away for purposes of clarity.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bracket.

Detailed description As shown in the drawings for purposes of illustration, the invention is embodied in a bracket assembly mounted on a drawer 11 and joumaling an anti-friction roller 13 which guides the drawer as the latter is pulled out of and pushed into an opening in a cabinet 14. The

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drawer includes a bottom panel 15 extending between front, rear and side frame members 16, 17 and 18 and spaced approximately A of an inch above the lower edges of the frame members. Herein, the roller 13 rides between the flanges of a horizontal guide channel 19 extending between the front and rear walls of the cabinet and, as the drawer is opened, the roller engages in interference bump 20 .(FIG. 1) struck down from the upper flange near the forward end of the channel to prevent the drawer from accidentally being pulled too far out of the cabinet. If the roller bypasses the interference bump or if the channel is not formed with such a bump, the forward motion of the drawer will be limited by engagement of the roller with a front rail 22 (FIG. 2) extending along the forward side of the cabinet.

The bracket assembly 10 is a sheet metal stamping and comprises a fiat upright mounting plate 23 secured in face-to-face relation with the rear side of the rear frame member 17 by fasteners 24. Formed integrally with and projecting generally rearwardly from the right-hand side of the mounting plate is a leg 25 which terminates in a tapered lower end portion 26 for mounting the roller 13. In this instance, the roller is a small wheel made of molded nylon and journaled for rotation about a horizontal axis extending parallel to the rear frame member on a rivet 27 which projects through a hole 29 (FIG. 4) formed in the lower end portion of the leg. The roller is disposed below the rear frame member of the drawer 11 and thus will strike the stops formed by the interference bump 20 and the front rail 22 of the cabinet 14- as the drawer is pulled outwardly.

In accordance with the present invention, the mounting plate 23 is hooked around the rear frame member 17 of the drawer 11 in a novel manner to absorb shock loads imposed on the fasteners 24 as a result of the roller 13 striking the stops 20 and 22 thus to insure that the fasteners will not work loose from the drawer in spite of repeated engagement of the roller with the stops. For this purpose, the lower end of the mounting plate is formed with a I -shaped hook 31 which embraces the lower lip 32 (FIG. 3) of the rear frame member and acts as a brace to prevent the mounting plate from turning counterclockwise as the roller strikes the stops so that the resulting shock loads are absorbed by the lip 32 instead of the fasteners. Accordingly, the bracket assembly 10 remains securely fastened to the drawer and thus is extremely rugged and trouble-free in service use.

In the present instance, the hook 31 includes a horizontally extending portion 34 bent at a right angle to and projecting forwardly from the lower end of the mounting plate 23. The forwardly extending portion underlies the lower edge of the rear frame member 17 and is equal in length to the thickness of the frame member. Formed integrally with the forward end of the horizontal portion 34 is an upwardly projecting finger 36 which lies alongside and fits closely against the forward side of the lip 32 with its free edge 37 disposed adjacent the bottom panel 15. A rectangular hole 38 (FIG. 4) may be punched out of the metal forming the hook to facilitate bending of the horizontal portion 34 and the finger 36 during manufacture of the bracket assembly. With this arrangement, the finger 36 reacts against the lip 32 when the roller 13 strikes the bump 20 or the rail 22 and thus the forces tending to loosen the fasteners 24 are reduced substantially.

Advantage is taken of the foregoing arrangement to facilitate easier and faster installation of the bracket assembly 10 thus resulting in a considerable saving of time and effort. Since the reaction forces applied to the fasteners 24 are essentially eliminated, the fasteners may be in the form of staples or other similar elements which may be driven into and embedded in the rear frame member 17 in a rapid and simple manner. Herein, the fasteners are a pair of vertically spaced staples each of which extends through a hole 4-0 and a slot 41 formed in the mounting plate 23. An additional slot 42 is formed in the plate below the slot 41 to accommodate staples of different size. The staples 24 may be driven into the rear member 17 with a suitable stapling gun thus doing away with the more time-consuming operation of attach ing the bracket assembly with threaded screws. In spite of such easy installation, the staples are sufficient to hold the bracket assembly securely on the drawer since the hook 311 absorbs forces that otherwise would tend to loosen the staples.

To achieve even more rapid installation, a small 10- cating notch 44 (FIG. 3) just slightly wider than the forwardly projecting portion 34 of the hook 331 may be formed in the lower edge of the rear frame member 17 midway between the ends of the member. By placing the forwardly projecting hook portion 34 in the notch, the installer may center the bracket assembly 10 on the drawer 11 automatically before driving the staples 24-.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the new and improved bracket assembly 10 of the present invention considerably facilitates installation but without any sacrifice in durability. Moreover, the integral hook 311 does not significantly increase the cost of manufacturing the assembly since it may be formed by the same stamping and bending operation employed in making the plate 23 and the leg 25.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a drawer having upright front, rear and side frame members and having a bottom panel extending between the members, a roller, a bracket having a leg projecting rearwardly of said rear member and mounting said roller for rotation about an axis extending parallel to said rear member, an upright mounting plate formed integrally with and disposed perpendicular to said leg, fasteners securing said plate in face-to-face relation with the rear side of said rear member, and a hook having a portion projecting forwardly from the lower end of said plate and underlying the bottom edge of said rear member and having a portion projecting upwardly from said forwardly projecting portion and extending alongside the forward side of said rear member thereby to embrace the latter and absorb shock loads imposed on said fasteners as a result of rearwardly directed forces applied to said roller.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 in which said fasteners are staples extending through said mounting plate and embedded in said rear frame member.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 in which the bottom edge of said rear frame member is formed with a downwardly opening notch receiving said forwardly projecting portion of said hook to locate said bracket relative to said frame member.

4. The combination as defined in claim 1 in which said bottom panel is spaced above the lower edge of said I rear frame member, and said upwardly projecting portion of said hook extends upwardly from the lower edge of said rear member toward the lower face of said bottom panel.

5. A drawer roller bracket assembly comprising an upright mounting plate adapted for attachment to the rear frame member of a drawer, a hook having a portion projecting generally horizontally in one direction from the lower end of said plate and having a portion substantially shorter than said plate projecting upwardly from said horizontal portion, a leg formed integrally with and projecting in the opposite direction from said plate, and a roller mounted for rotation on said leg at a level below said hook.

6. A drawer bracket assembly comprising an upright mounting plate adapted for attachment to the rear frame member of a drawer, a hook having a portion projecting generally horizontally in one direction from one end of the plate and having a portion substantially shorter than said plate projecting vertically from said horizontal portion and toward the other end of the plate, a leg formed integrally with and projecting in the opposite direction from said plate, and an anti-friction guide supported near the free end of said leg.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 722,569 3/ 1903 Dil-ger 1630 1,295,483 2/1919 Haas 5-331 1,471,247 10/1923 Dietz 1629 2,254,132 8/ 1941 Appleyard 312347 2,452,645 11/1948 Firsel -4 248-214 X 3,094,363 6/1963 Fremstad et a1 312-343 3,281,198 10/1960 Anderson et al 312343 FOREIGN PATENTS 339,189 12/ 1930 Great Britain.

JAMES T. MCCALL, Primary Examiner. 

